Orthodontic appliance



Aug. 29, 1967 J- J. STIFTER 3,337,958

ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCE Filed May 6, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. John 1/. St/f'zer Aug. 29, :1967 J. J. STIFTER 3,337,958

ORTHODDNT IC APPLIANCE FiledlzMay 6, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. John d. St/fter ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,337,958 .ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCE John J. Stifter, 33084 Lake Road,

Avon Lake, Ohio 44012 Filed May 6, 1965, Ser. No. 453,797 4 Claims. (Cl. 32-14 My invention relates to an orthodontic appliance and relates more particularly to those devices known as face bows or extra oral arches, etc.

It is an object of my invention to provide improved face bows, etc. of the type referred to which will have improved corrective effect.

It is a further object of my invention to provide face bows, etc. of the type referred to which will provide greater comfort to the wearer than prior art face bows with which I am familiar.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an extra-oral arch which is relatively strong and in which breakage is eliminated.

Yet another object is to provide a face bow wherein the outer member of the face bow lies at a different plane than the plane of the inner member thereof, providing both greater comfort and diflerent placement, as desired.

Still a further object is to provide a face bow of the type referred to which exerts high elastic pull.

A further object is to provide a face bow which will be relatively inexpensive to manufacture, being composed of but few parts, and yet highly eflicient and durable in use.

Other objects of my invention and the invention itself will be more readily apparent from a purview of the appended description, in which description reference will be made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1a is a cross-sectional view taken along plane 1a'1a of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 shows a plan view of another modification of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 shows a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 2.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, in all of which like parts are designated by like reference characters, and referring more particularly to the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, at I show a face bow having an outer U-shaped spring wire member 11 and an inner U-shaped spring wire member 12; the said outer member 11 is secured to the inner member 12 by a coupling 13 having a pair of vertically spaced horizontally extending tubular passages 14 and 15 therein through which the wire members 11 and 12 are passed.

The coupling and wires encompassed thereby are then bent on a radius to crimp the wires 11 and 12 securing the same in place. On either side of said coupling in the form of FIGS. 1 and 3, the inner brace 12 is provided with a preferably S-form loop 16, 16 forming hooks for high pull tension or elastic devices for the anterior teeth, said loops 16, 16 allowing the inner member 12 of the bow to lie in two different planes, one designated at a and one at b, the plane a being disposed above and the plane b preferably disposed below the plane of the outer bow member 11. It is contemplated that the plane a and the plane b need not be disposed above and below the plane of the outer bow member 11 but could be disposed in different planes, which planes might, for example, both be above or both be below the plane of the outer how or coupling portion of the bow 17 to be disposed in the plane of the lips rather than requiring the lips to be open when the bow is inserted into the mouth.

In the form of FIGS. 2 and 4, in lieu of the S-shaped loops, the wire is bent into generally M-shaped hooks 18, 18 affording an attachment for auxiliary horizontal and vertical anterior elastic members (not shown) which afford anterior torque control of the anterior teeth.

In the form of FIGS. 1 and 3, the wire of the outer bow member 11 is provided with circular spring loops or coils 19, 19 to permit an overall constant pressure to be applied against the patients teeth. In the form of FIGS. 2 and 4, S-shaped curves 20, 20 are employed for similar effect.

The bow member 11 in each of the forms of my invention is provided on either side of the coupling rear- Wardly of the loops or coils 19, 19 or, in the case of the form of FIGS. 2 and 4, rearwardly of the S-loops 20, 20, with face conforming portions 21, 22, 23 generally angled or bent with respect to each other; and the opposite ends or legs 24 of the bow member 11 are provided with inwardly extending hooks 25, 25 for attachment to an elastic head band (not shown) which with the outer bow member completes a loop around the patients head, in a manner well known in the art.

It will be observed that the present invention dispenses with soldering, brazing, welding, etc. either the outer or inner wires of the bow and thus precludes loss of temper and resultant breakage of the bow. It will further be noted that the device is so formed as to be carried in the mouth in a natural position whereby the lips may be held in a natural open or closed position without interference. The outer member of the bow, etc. device is further conformed to the contour of the face for greater comfort of the wearer.

While I have described my invention in connection with a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that various changes may be made therein without, however, de parting from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An orthodontic appliance comprising a first U- shaped spring wire member adapted to be positioned inside a wearers mouth in front of the wearers teeth, a second U-shaped wire member having end portions adapted to be attached to a head band at the rear of a wearers head, a coupling having a pair of elongated passageways therethrough, said passageways being spaced vertically Within the coupling, portions of said first and second U- shaped spring Wire members being disposed Within respective of said passageways, said coupling portions of wire encompassed within the said passageways being arcuately bent to secure the wires against displacement in such coupling, the said first U-shaped Wire member having a pair of fiat portions lying in spaced parallel planes, one of the spaced flat portions of the first member lying below the plane of the second U-shaped wire member, and the other of said spaced flat portions lying above the plane of said second U-shaped Wire member.

2. The orthodontic appliance of claim 1, wherein the said pair of said first U-shaped wire member portions are joined by S-shaped loop portions.

3. The orthodontic appliance of claim 1, wherein the said pair of said first U-shaped wire member portions are joined by generally M-shaped portions.

4. An orthodontic appliance comprising a first U- shaped wire member adapted to be positioned inside a Wearers mouth in front of the Wearers teeth, a second U-shaped wire member having end portions adapted to be attached to a head band at the rear of a Wearers head, a coupling member connecting portions of said first and second U-shaped wire members to each other, said first U-shaped wire member having a pair of fiat portions lying in spaced, parallel planes, one of said fiat portions lying below the plane of said second U-shaped wire mem her, and the other of said spaced flat portions lying above the plane of said second U-shaped wire member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Montag 3214 Johnson 3214 Glaser 3214 Gabb et al 128146 Winkler 32-14 Asher 32-14 19 RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner.

J. W. HINEY, Assistant Examiner. 

4. AN ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCE COMPRISING A FIRST USHAPED WIRE MEMBER ADAPTED TO BE POSITIONED INSIDE A WEARER''S MOUTH IN FRONT OF THE WEATER''S TEETH, A SECOND U-SHAPED WIRE MEMBER HAVING END PORTIONS ADAPTED TO BE ATTACHED TO A HEAD BAND AT THE REAR OF A WEARER''S HEAD, A COUPLING MEMBER CONNECTING PORTIONS OF SAID FIRST AND SECOND U-SHAPED WIRE MEMBERS TO EACH OTHER, SAID FIRST U-SHAPED WIRE MEMBER HAVING A PAIR OF FLAP PORTIONS LYING BELOW THE PLANE OF SAID SECOND U-SHAPED WIRE MEMBER, AND THE OTHER OF SAID SPACED FLAT PORTIONS LYING ABOVE THE PLANE OF SAID SECOND U-SHAPED WIRE MEMBER. 